FIRST-PERSON: Canadian authorities needlessly escalate conflict over COVID-19 and religion
By now the situation involving Pastor James Coates and GraceLife Church, which is just outside the city of Edmonton, Alberta, has gained the attention of many evangelicals in both Canada and the United States.
SBC leaders praise high court ruling on at-home meetings
WASHINGTON (BP) – Southern Baptist leaders and other religious liberty advocates applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest decision supporting the free exercise of religion in the face of government restrictions related to COVID-19.
Christian campus groups win in court
WASHINGTON (BP) – Federal courts have recently delivered victories to student faith groups that were kicked off state university campuses for requiring their leaders to be Christians.
Colorado cake artist again defending religious liberty
DENVER (BP) – Colorado cake artist Jack Phillips is again defending his freedom to practice his Christian faith in a case that is part of the ongoing, legal faceoff between religious liberty and sexual liberty.
Supreme Court rules college student’s free speech case will continue
WASHINGTON (BP) – In an 8-1 vote, the Supreme Court ruled today (March 8) that $1 in damages is enough to revive the lawsuit of a Georgia college student who said his free speech rights were violated in 2016 as he attempted to share the Gospel.
‘Poorly named’ Equality Act passes House
WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. House of Representatives passed Thursday (Feb. 25) for the second time a far-reaching gay and transgender rights proposal that opponents warn would have calamitous effects on freedom of religion and conscience, as well as protections for women, girls and unborn children.
Russia imprisons first elderly Jehovah’s Witness woman for practicing faith
ABAKAN, Russia (BP) – Russia has sentenced a frail elderly woman and her son to prison for being Jehovah's Witnesses, the first time the country has sentenced a female Jehovah's Witness since outlawing the religion in 2017, the Moscow Times reported.
Court: Alabama violates inmate’s freedom of religion
WASHINGTON (BP) – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld late Thursday (Feb. 11) a lower-court ruling that blocked Alabama from executing a prisoner because the state would not allow a pastor to be with him.
Religious rights activists remember Holocaust by advocating for persecuted Uyghurs
LONDON (BP) – Christian and Jewish human rights leaders are remembering the Holocaust by urging international advocacy on behalf of more than 3 million innocent Uyghur Muslims held in Chinese concentration camps aimed at cultural genocide.
ERLC commends genocide label for China’s atrocities
WASHINGTON (BP) – The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission commended the United States declaration on the Trump administration’s last full day that China has committed genocide against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities.
